Not applicable
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to apparatus for cleaning webs of material in general, and in particular to apparatus which is readily positioned on pre-existing machinery.
There are many installations of machinery which treat raw web stock, such as by printing, trimming, folding, etc. in many cases, the stock paper, plastic or other material may come from the place of manufacture with a quantity of dust or particular matter associated therewith. Although of small size, this material can contribute, over time, to a degradation of printing or other treating performance. It has been found that, by positioning a rotating buff in proximity to the moving web, and drawing away the air which passes over the buff through a vacuum hood, marked reduction in contamination of the machinery can be obtained. However, in most cases web cleaning apparatus is not provided as standard equipment by machinery manufacturers. As result, volume to receive retrofitted web cleaning apparatus is not always available where desired within the machinery.
In my previous U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,589, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, I disclosed a web cleaning apparatus which was readily positionable within the arch of a conventional web printing press. This apparatus permitted opposed web buff cleaning assemblies to be positioned temporarily within the arch above the slot in the printing press floor. This provided one effective approach to utilizing the restricted space available in pre-existing machinery for installation of web cleaning buff assemblies. Nevertheless, there are a wide variety of press and web machinery each with its own particular configuration and arrangement of rolls and web treating equipment. Depending on a particular site""s requirements, the size, number, and arrangement of web cleaning buff assemblies may vary.
What is needed is a buff assembly which may be readily positioned on preexisting machinery in a wide variety of positions with minimal modification to the machinery.
The web cleaning apparatus of this invention has a positioning frame which supports a rotating buff roll within a vacuum plenum at a desired location adjacent a moving web of material. The apparatus has a drive arm with a jackshaft and a support arm each pivoted off bases which may be clamped to a single cross machine direction shaft. The motor drive may also be positioned at a variety of orientations. Three parallel axes of adjustment are defined by the positioning frame granting the installer of the apparatus great latitude in positioning the buff assembly near the web to be cleaned. Two web cleaning apparatuses may be installed on opposite sides of an open span of web, or a first apparatus may be engaged against the web where it turns around a roll, and a second apparatus may be engaged against the web where it turns around a downstream roll.
It is a feature of this invention to provide a web cleaning apparatus which is easily installed on a pre-existing machine having restricted available volume.
It is another feature of this invention to provide a web cleaning apparatus which may be installed in segments without the use of rigging equipment.
It is also a feature of this invention to provide a web cleaning apparatus which is readily adjustable in the field to modify the position of a rotating buff.
It is an additional feature of this invention to provide a web cleaning apparatus which secures readily to a single cross shaft. Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.